One week after being on the losing end of a dramatic cup final, Sanfrecce Hiroshima had their chance to step onto the champion’s podium rather than watch from the sideline.

A pair of late second-half goals by Cypriot striker Pieros Sotiriou — one from the penalty spot and the other from a well-placed Makoto Mitsuta corner kick in the 11th minute of stoppage time — saw Sanfrecce past Cerezo Osaka 2-1 in Saturday’s J. League YBC Levain Cup final at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

It was the perfect chaser to the bitter shot Hiroshima drank last Sunday when it lost to second-division Ventforet Kofu in the final of the Emperor’s Cup after a tense penalty shootout.

“We were able to play past our limits in order to succeed,” Sanfrecce manager Michael Skibbe said. “In the second half we allowed an unlucky goal. But as time went on we were able to perform well.

“Finally, Sanfrecce can bring the cup back to Hiroshima.”

The 30th edition of the J. League Cup, which launched in 1992 ahead of the J. League’s inaugural season the following year, was for the most part a cagey affair that offered few clear chances by either side, though Hiroshima picked up the pace and gathered momentum near the end of the first half.

Cerezo appeared to get the upper hand in the 53rd minute when Sanfrecce left back Sho Sasaki grossly underpowered a back pass, allowing 25-year-old Mutsuki Kato to intercept the ball and easily round past Hiroshima goalkeeper Keisuke Osako for the goal.

A spirited Sanfrecce attack emerged in search of an equalizer, and the tide began to turn in the 79th minute when Cerezo defender Matej Jonjic and Hiroshima forward Nassim Ben Khalifa tangled in the midfield, with Jonjic shown a red card for a retaliatory strike with his hand following a video review.

Despite a man advantage, Sanfrecce seemed likely to finish runner-up in what would have been a ninth cup final in the club’s history until four minutes into stoppage time, when another video review adjudged Cerezo defender Koji Toriumi to have committed a handball in the penalty area.

Substitute Sotiriou stepped up to the spot and evened the scoreline at 1-1 — raising the specter of extra time, similar to that which Sanfrecce experienced just six days earlier in the Emperor’s Cup final.

But the Cypriot decided that additional time was enough, leaping up with his right foot to angle in Mitsuta’s corner kick in the 101st minute of play before ripping off his uniform and rushing to celebrate in front of thousands of cheering Sanfrecce fans.

“It was a similar scene to the handball call, where I kicked it to the same spot, the goalkeeper wasn’t able to come out and the attacker was unmarked, and (Sotiriou) was able to get free and meet the ball,” Mitsuta said.

“We weren’t able to win a title last week and today we were losing until the very end, but we turned it around, and to be able to release that tension is a huge relief.”

The match, which played out in front of 39,608 fans — many of whom were allowed to cheer as the J. League relaxes its coronavirus-related restrictions on active support — opened on a bittersweet note. Prior to kickoff, a moment of silence was held in tribute to former Sanfrecce forward Masato Kudo, whose third-division club Tegevajaro Miyazaki announced his death on Friday following complications from brain surgery.